Sunny Days
by kittykatloren
Summary: Only one person was outside in the sun. She darted across the palace gardens, her tunic and breeches cut short for the season, and her wild brown hair flying out behind her. Daine/Numair oneshot.


Here's a long oneshot, again, very fluffy. Boderline romance, but not quite - I imagine it as pre-Emperor Mage, but if you picture it later, that works too. It's anytime, really. Hope you enjoy! Please read and review, I appreciate it so much! And before anyone asks, the immortal in this story is NOT in the books, I invented it purely for this story's purposes.

**Words: **2794  
**Characters:** Daine, Numair  
**Time: **Anytime before _Emperor Mage_  
**Genre:** Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce. Not me.

* * *

The sun burned brightly overhead, flooding the palace with the hot golden light of a summer afternoon. All the windows were wide open in the hopes of tempting a small breeze from the surrounding forest. Most people – all those with any semblance of good sense – were indoors, relaxing in the shade during the hottest part of the day. It was very rare that there could be such easy, peaceful times where there was almost nothing that truly _had_ to be done. Even the king was dozing. The summer was a gift, and every person in the castle was enjoying it immensely. Other than the few servants who scurried across the gardens and then quickly took refuge in their cool quarters, only one person was outside in the sun. She darted across the palace gardens, her tunic and breeches cut short for the season, and her wild brown hair flying out behind her.

Bees and butterflies flitted lazily from colorful flower to colorful flower, surrounding Daine with an entourage of bright specks as the ran through, careful not to crush anything. A few sparrows followed her trail. She could sense that they were there, so she glanced up and smiled at them. She had to squint through the sun. _Do you want to come with me?_ she asked them curiously.

_Where are you going?_ replied one, a female with a beautiful white chest. The rest twittered and wondered the same.

_I don't know. But I'd be glad for the company,_ said Daine with a grin.

Despite the heat, she did not want to be indoors. She didn't see how everyone in the palace was content to just _sleep_, even if there were no pressing concerns to deal with. There were plenty of animals, too, who were doing the same as all the two-leggers – but either way, Daine wanted to be outside. In the training grounds, the garden, the forest – it didn't really matter. Just outdoors. She'd covered her first two favorite places, so now was moving to the third. It'd be cooler there, anyway, she thought. Shade and breezes and ponds always helped on a hot midsummer day.

The bronze metal on the top of the garden gates burned Daine's fingers when she touched it, so she carefully pushed on the wooden part instead to open it. Leaving the colorful flowers and fragrances behind, Daine proceeded out into the open field, smooth grass tickling her bare feet and ankles as it swayed lazily in the breeze. The sparrows darted around over her head, black spots against a clear blue sky. It was almost too bright to look directly overhead. If she gave herself cat's eyes, Daine could see horses grazing in the distance – Cloud was probably there too. But Daine let her pony remain undisturbed. Without looking back, Daine slipped into the cool shade of the forest, grateful for the moss under her feet and the trees all around her. The sunlight dappled through the canopy and cast patterns along the forest floor.

Closing her eyes, Daine took careful steps further into the forest, using her senses to guide her among the many branches and stumps. She could still hear the sparrows twittering around her. Once she had walked a little ways, Daine opened her eyes again and found herself where she had intended to be – her favorite clearing, with the little pond and stone in the center where she had learned to trust someone who wasn't of the People.

The sparrows settled on her shoulders and in her hair as Daine took a seat. It was so nice to just be out of the castle. Grass tickled her bare knees and toes. With a deep breath, Daine opened her mind to the copper fire of magic inside her, and let all other thoughts fall away into nothingness. She could feel the usuals – families of animals, like rabbits and birds, or loners like foxes and owls far off in the distance. All of them called out to her, and she smiled in return, giving each a personal greeting. There was also another presence there. Something she had never felt before. It gave off an aura, almost – a sort of universal feeling of well-being and calm.

Using her normal two-legger senses of sight and sound, Daine struggled to find that new presence somewhere in the undergrowth. After a while, she caved and gave herself hawk's-eyes and bat's-ears to aid in her search. But that new creature was still elusive; she was only ever truly aware of its presence if she tapped in to her inner wellspring of magic. It wasn't until she stilled almost all parts of her body – her mind, her heart, her breathing – that Daine was able to find that new immortal. She was just before that line of danger that she had reached once when trying to communicate with dolphins outside Pirate's Swoop. Numair probably wouldn't like her to be so daring, but Daine stayed frozen nevertheless.

And then she finally saw it. In her magic's eye, she saw some sort of immortal, a creature she'd never even heard of. It was small and cat-like, pale fur shining in the dappled sun. But it had little wings on its back that looked like those of an angel's, as perfect as if they from all the picture books and old tales – fair and feathered. The creature's nose was bright pink, and its eyes seemed a deep blue against the white of its fur. _Numair,_ Daine thought at once, unable to take her eyes off of the gorgeous feline. _Numair would know what she is._

Slowly, so as not to startle the new animal, Daine turned to the sparrows on her shoulders and spoke in their minds. _Go find Master Numair,_ she asked, with just the faintest touch of her will. _He'll be in his tower, probably._ _Reading or something. Peck at him and chirp till he gets the message, and bring him here, as fast as you can?_

At once, all the sparrows twittered in agreement and zoomed from their assorted roosts. The air seemed to become much quieter after they left. It was only Daine and the new immortal now. Daine was still having to use her magic to see the creature; it hadn't really revealed itself yet. _Don't be scared,_ Daine said, reaching out with a thread of copper fire. _Please, come out? I want my friend to be able to see you, too. It'd make him really happy, you know._

The creature sniffed, and bent her head towards her feet shyly. Daine kept up a flow of encouragement and gentle words, until finally, the immortal poked her small head out from behind the bushes. A smile spread across Daine's face. She was just the sort of animal Numair would love to see. Rare, magical, beautiful. The cat-like immortal stepped out fully now, keeping her indigo eyes fixed on Daine. She wrapped a long tail around her paws and flexed her feathery wings, almost sparkling with radiance. Daine sat still, waiting, her heart beating a little faster than it usually did. _Numair must see this_.

* * *

What seemed like a series of sudden, enormously loud bangs snapped Numair out of the spell of research. Immersed in books and scrolls, it took him a while to notice the flock of sparrows tapping incessantly on his tower window, but once he did, the racket they were making sounded like hailstones on a thinly-wrought metal roof. Numair jumped up and opened his window. The sparrows flew in at once, twittered and grabbing his cloak with their tiny claws, or pecking at his head with sharp beaks.

"Stop that," said Numair, throwing a hand up to shield his face. "Daine sent you, didn't she? Where is she? Is she all right?"

The sparrows only chirped. Not for the first time in his life, Numair was struck by a fierce longing to possess Daine's magical abilities rather than his own.

"I'm coming, then," he said. The birds were clearly impatient. It felt as if they were _dragging _him out of his tower and down towards the gardens, where they emerged into the hot midsummer day. The sun hit Numair like a blast of fire. It was no wonder the corridors and grounds had been deserted as he had been coming down; it was far too hot to do anything productive.

He barely noticed where they were going after they left the garden gates. His thoughts were focused on Daine now. Had she run off and gotten hurt? Was that why the sparrows had come for him? Picking up his pace – or at least, walking at a speed that was finally equal to the sparrows' – Numair let the birds guide him across a large field and into a shady forest. On the way in, he nearly tripped over a fallen branch and had to catch himself with the trunk of another tree. The sparrows cut him no slack. They kept pulling on his clothes and his hair until they arrived at a familiar, light-speckled clearing with a pond on one side and a young woman on the other side. She was staring intently at something that Numair couldn't see; her body blocked it from view.

It was the person he had expected to see, from the moment the sparrows had started to essentially talk to him. Her hair fell wild and wavy down her back, but he could see that her shoulders were straight and her posture upright and intense. She was leaning forward only slightly, the sleeves of her tunic caught by the little trace of a breeze that made it through the woods.

"Numair!" she said excitedly, but still softly, and without looking at him. "Numair, come see. Quick. Shh."

Without asking, he did as he was told, hurrying to her side and sitting on his knees as quietly as he could. Daine grabbed his wrist and pointed his hand a bush directly in front of them. There was nothing there, but Numair knew she was concentrating hard. He could feel the distinct pulse of her wild magic in the air; he would always be able to recognize the feeling.

Something white flashed between the leaves and branches of the foliage. Daine's hand squeezed his, and she nodded rapidly towards the sound of rustling brush before them. A cat stepped slowly into view – or at least, Numair thought that it was a cat at first glance. But even with just its head visible, he could tell that there was something different about it. Its eyes glittered with a sort of intelligence that no earthly animal had, not even one that had spent years around Daine. It had to be an immortal. When the creature stepped out so that Numair could see its whole body, his guess was proved correct – an immortal. It had stunning feathered wings extending from its shoulders; right now, they were folded and kept close to its body. A long silvery tail whipped back and forth in front of the animal's paws.

"I asked her to stay, so you could see her," Daine whispered, extending a hand. The creature sniffed her fingers, then rubbed the side of her head happily across Daine's palm. Smiling, Daine scratched the animal's ears, then turned to Numair. "She said she'll let you touch her, too. Go ahead."

The cat was looking at him challengingly, as if she were granting him some great honor. Numair gave a small, respectful bow to the immortal, catching Daine's grin as he did so. Reaching out his hand, he touched the soft fur on the cat's head, then ran his fingers down to her light wings. There wasn't a single rough patch or knot in her fur. It was as smooth as weather-worn stone. Just warmer.

"This is something that doesn't have a name," Numair murmured in awe. "In all my ancient texts, there have only been perhaps three mentions of true winged cats. They were called more than that. Perhaps there is only one is existence, only appearing sporadically in all history. And this is her."

"She must like us, to stay so long."

"She must," agreed Numair. "They are said to bring luck, winged cats. Cats represent independence, curiosity, and skill. If they appear, they appear only to people with those qualities, and those are the people to whom they bring luck and love. Especially if they're seen in nighttime."

"Too bad it's not dark, then," said Daine. "What else do you know?"

"Not much. I'm still too shocked to believe that I am one of the few people in the history of the world that has ever seen something so rare. And beautiful," he added quickly, as the cat's glassy eyes pierced into him.

"I thought you'd like meeting her."

"You were right," said Numair, his hand unconsciously stroking the immortal's fur. At last, the cat ducked out from under his hand, looked at both Daine and Numair for a long moment, then slipped back in to the brush from whence she came. Numair looked over a Daine, a broad smile on his face. "Daine, I can't believe this. A winged cat!"

Daine laughed and slid off the rock she had been sitting on. Next to Numair now, she stretched and laid down with her arms behind her head. "I think my magic helps. It wasn't all of that curiosity and skill stuff you were talking about, you know. It was just coincidence."

"You are perhaps the most independent, dangerously curious, and remarkably talented person that I know, magelet," said Numair. He glanced down at Daine, who had closed her eyes. He frowned. "Daine – what in the name of the Black God happened to your breeches?"

Daine opened her eyes and looked down. "Oh. It's hot, so I cut them off. They're more comfortable this way. I don't see how you're not dying, in a tunic and breeches _and_ a cloak."

"It's only mildly indecent, of course, to wear something cut off above your knees."

"It's not like I was planning to be in the castle at all," retorted Daine. "You're the only person I've seen today, so it doesn't matter anyway."

"Of course it doesn't," Numair muttered.

Daine looked up at him critically, then sat up. "It's making me sweat just looking at you," she said, pulling his cloak from his shoulders and tossing it to the ground, where she promptly began to use it as a pillow. "There. Much better, right?"

"If you say so," said Numair, stretching his arms out behind him. It _was_ cooler with just a thin tunic, that was undeniable.

"Are you doing anything today, Numair?"

"No, not unless Jon tells me to. Why do you ask?"

"Because, in that case, I'm not letting you go back and shut yourself up with books and scrolls. You have to stay outside. If the king comes looking, I'll let you go, but other than that, you're stuck."

"If only the winged cat represented stubbornness, as well. Then you would never say that it was purely coincidence."

"Think of it like a lesson, then," she said cheerfully. "Tell me a story."

"A story," sighed Numair, lying down beside her and looking up at the treetops. He could hear the birds all around, the gentle movement of water in the pond, the soft scurries of animals in the undergrowth. The sounds of a forest. "What would you like to hear?"

"Anything." Daine turned on her side so that she was facing him, her face even with his shoulders. "Whatever you were just in your room reading about, if you want. I don't see how you can find that fun. It's so dull."

"The pursuit of knowledge is never dull, magelet. I was reading scholars' articles on ancient texts about Mithros. I was inspired by the sunny day."

"Mithros, then. Not the analysises, just Mithros."

"It's _analyses _when it's plural, rather than_ analysises._ But all right, then. Mithros."

Numair could feel Daine's eyes on him, as warm and real as the sun above him. Glancing once at her, Numair searched his mind for the best, most heroic and powerful myth, something that would do the Sun God honor. It seemed like the right thing to do – to thank god for providing something so beautiful. As Numair began to speak, Daine scooted closer to him, closed her eyes, and let the words wash over her like the wind through the trees.


End file.
